For some dumb reason, head coach Ty Corbin started the season with Derrick Favors starting over Paul Millsap at power forward. That didn’t last too long. Millsap has played in 16 games (14 starts) for the Jazz so far this year and he is averaging 31.3 minutes, 17.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Millsap is also shooting 54.8% from the floor as he has been red hot shooting the ball this year. The Jazz should probably let Millsap shoot the ball even more than he is right now.

27-year old center Al Jefferson is off to a great start this year for the Jazz. He has played in 7 games (all starts) for the Jazz so far this year and he is averaging 32.7 minutes, 18.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.6 blocked shots per game. Jefferson is playing solid basketball on both ends of the court and he is a driving force as to why the Jazz are off to a suprisingly good start this year.

For some reason, head coach Tyrone Corbin thought it was better to start Derrick Favors over Paul Millsap at power forward. It didn’t take long until that changed. Paul Millsap has played in 6 games (4 starts) for the Jazz so far this year and he is averaging 26.8 minutes, 12.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Millsap is probably the second best player on the Jazz (Al Jefferson being the best), so he has to start and play big minutes if the team is going to make the best use of it’s resources.

26-year old center Al Jefferson turned in a solid first year for the Jazz.  Jefferson played in 82 games (all starts) for the Jazz last year and he averaged 35.9 minutes, 18.6 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.9 blocked shots per game.  He has now played in 489 games (358 starts) in his first 7 years in the NBA and he is averaging 29.8 minutes, 15.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game.  Jefferson really turned in a solid season for the Jazz in 2011-12 and they hope it was just a glimpse of things to come.

26-year old power forward Paul Millsap stepped into the starting lineup fulltime after Carlos Boozer left for the Windy City as a free agent.  Millsap played in 76 games (all starts) for the Jazz last year and he averaged 34.3 minutes, 17.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  He has now played in 398 games (125 starts) in his first five years with the Jazz and he has averaged 26.0 minutes, 11.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  Millsap is also shooting 52.8% in his career so far as he’s a very efficient offensive player.  I look for Millsap to improve as time goes on for the Jazz.

Point guard Devin Harris and power forward Derrick Favors came over to the Jazz as part of the haul for Deron Williams and they are both playing decent basketball so far.  Harris has replaced Williams as the Jazz’ starting point guard.  He has played in 13 games (12 starts) for the Jazz so far this year and he is averaging 29.0 minutes, 14.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game.  Rookie power forward Derrick Favors has been backing up Paul Millsap since coming to Utah.  He has played in 14 games (2 starts) for the Jazz last year and he averaged 17.9 minutes, 7.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game on 51.3% shooting from the floor.  Harris & Favors will have huge roles for the Jazz going forward.

34-year old starting shooting guard Raja Bell is getting into a groove for the Jazz right now.  In his last four games, Bell is averaging 37.8 minutes, 15.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.  He is shooting 58.5% from the floor in those games (24 of 41).  Bell has now played in 50 games (all starts) for the Jazz so far this year and he is averaging 30.7 minutes, 8.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.  Bell is already a great defensive player so anything he can add offensively helps the Jazz as a whole, big time.

25-year old power forward Paul Millsap bided his time for years sitting behind Carlos Boozer.  When Boozer left as a free agent, Millsap inherited his starting job and he’s been making the most of it so far this year.  Millsap has played in 41 games (all starts) for the Jazz so far this year and he is averaging 34.2 minutes, 17.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  Millsap is shooting 53.8% from the floor so far this year as he has been very unselfish offensively so far this year.  I look for Millsap to finish strong in the second half for the Jazz as I think he can put up better numbers then he has so far this season.

29-year old small forward Andrei Kirilenko is having a solid year for the Jazz.  Kirilenko has played in 18 games (all starts) for the Jazz so far this year and he is averaging 33.4 minutes, 11.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  He is also shooting well from three point range as he has connected on 17 of 37 (45.9%) attempts from long range so far this year.  Wth Kirilenko in a contract walk year don’t be surprised to see him really pick up his game if the Jazz need him to take more shots at some point this year.

26-year old point guard Deron Williams is taking his game to a new level so far this year. He has played in 11 games (all starts) for the Jazz so far this year and he is averaging 39.7 minutes, 22.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game. Williams is shooting 46% from the floor, 37% from three point range and 83.6% from the three point line as he has been outstanding this year. He is looking for his own shot a little more so far this year which makes the Jazz even more deadly when he has the ball in his hands.